The launch of healthcare.gov in 2013 was a disaster. The website, which was meant to provide a way for Americans to sign up for health insurance under the Affordable Care Act, was plagued by technical problems and crashed repeatedly, making it nearly impossible for people to sign up for coverage.
Following the launch of Healthcare.gov, the federal government recognized the need to improve digital services and bring modern technology and user-centered design principles to government websites and applications. To achieve this, the government established two new organizations: the United States Digital Service (USDS) and 18F. These organizations were created to help improve and modernize digital services across the government, with the goal of providing better experiences for users. Their work ultimately led to the creation of the Digital Services Playbook.
USDS and 18F: Bringing Modern Technology and User-Centered Design to Government Digital Services
The United States Digital Service (USDS) was created in 2014 as a response to the healthcare.gov debacle. The organization was modeled after the successful rescue of healthcare.gov, which involved a team of technologists, designers, and project managers from both the public and private sectors working together to fix the website.
The USDS was created to bring that same approach to other government digital services. The organization is made up of a team of technologists, designers, and project managers who work across government agencies to improve digital services for the American public.
Similarly, 18F was created in the same year as USDS, and it is a government agency that specializes in providing technology consulting, digital services, and user experience design to other government agencies. 18F is made up of a team of designers, developers, and product managers who work collaboratively with government agencies to help them modernize their digital services.
The Digital Services Playbook: Guidelines for Delivering Effective, User-Centered Digital Services
As part of their mission to improve government digital services, USDS and 18F created the Digital Services Playbook. The Playbook is a set of guidelines and best practices for delivering digital services in the federal government.
The Playbook was created to help government agencies create better digital services that are more user-centered, efficient, and secure. It consists of a set of 13 plays that cover various aspects of the digital services delivery process, from understanding user needs to continuous improvement and iteration.
The Playbook has been widely adopted across the federal government and has helped to shape the approach to digital services delivery. It is a living document that is regularly updated and improved based on feedback and lessons learned from government agencies and other stakeholders.
How the Digital Services Playbook is Helping Government Contractors Provide Effective, Human-Centered Digital Services
The Digital Services Playbook is not just for government agencies. It is also helping government contractors to provide effective, human-centered digital services that meet the needs of the American public.
The Playbook provides a set of guidelines and best practices that contractors can use to ensure that the digital services they provide are user-centered, efficient, and secure. By following the Playbook, contractors can create digital services that are more effective, and that better meet the needs of the American public.
Overall, the creation of USDS and 18F, and the subsequent development of the Digital Services Playbook, have had a significant impact on government digital services. By bringing modern technology and user-centered design principles to government services, these organizations have helped to create digital services that are more effective, efficient, and user-friendly, and that better meet the needs of the American public.
Sources:
- “Digital Services Playbook,” U.S. Digital Service, https://playbook.cio.gov/.
- “18F,” U.S. General Services Administration, https://18f.gsa.gov/.
- “About USDS,” U.S. Digital Service, https://www.usds.gov/about.
- “Small is Beautiful – The Big Bang Launch Failure of Healthcare.gov, https://medium.com/dataseries/small-is-beautiful-the-launch-failure-of-healthcare-gov-5e60f20eb967
- “The Failed Launch Of www.HealthCare.gov”. https://d3.harvard.edu/platform-rctom/submission/the-failed-launch-of-www-healthcare-gov/
- “The Secret Startup That Saved the Worst Website in America,” The Atlantic, July 2015, https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2013/10/from-panic-to-progress-how-tech-experts-helped-fix-healthcaregov/280636/.
- “Healthcare.gov website rollout”. https://ballotpedia.org/Healthcare.gov_website_rollout
- “Building the 21st Century Digital Government,” U.S. Chief Information Officers Council, December 2012, https://www.cio.gov/assets/files/Building_a_21st_Century_Digital_Government.pdf.
- “6 Software Development Lessons Form Healthcare.gov’s Failed Launch,” ComputerWorld, https://www.brookings.edu/blog/techtank/2013/11/06/tech-surge-helped-fix-healthcare-gov-now-more-tech-experts-needed-to-avoid-future-issues/.
